Tomato sauce

[MatthewB]

I made tomato sauce last night from scratch. 8 quart pot was about 5 quarts full to start. The tomatoes were crushed (canned).

Anyway . . .

Made a huge mess as the burbling sauce flew all over the oven, the counter, the backsplash, etc.

Is there an easier way to do this?

Perhaps a splatter cover over the pot?

[Rachel Perlow]

Uh, you answered your own question. Splatter shields are cheap and easy to store since they're really flat. Go get one.

[MatthewB]

Uh, you answered your own question. Splatter shields are cheap and easy to store since they're really flat. Go get one.

That's what I thought, but I wanted a sanity check.

Thanks, Rachel.

[sammy]

It sounds like you're cooking it at too high a heat. I think it should just simmer which would greatly cut down on the splattering.

Also, you can partially cover the pot by keeping a wooden spoon in the pot with the pot cover leaning against it. It still allows the sauce to reduce while cutting down on the splattering.

[alanamoana]

that's a great idea! my technique is to leave the lid on at an angle (so steam can escape)...when i want to stir, i actually turn the heat off so that it won't splatter on me, then i cover it again and turn the heat back on. what a pain! thanks for the common sense solution.

[Rachel Perlow]

BTW - they're a PITA to clean by hand, but easy enough to throw in the dishwasher.

[MatthewB]

It sounds like you're cooking it at too high a heat. I think it should just simmer which would greatly cut down on the splattering.

Also, you can partially cover the pot by keeping a wooden spoon in the pot with the pot cover leaning against it. It still allows the sauce to reduce while cutting down on the splattering.

Oh, this was a simmer! (Simmer for me is a 4 count between bubbles.)

The gas burner was as low as it would go.

Perhaps I should pick up a heat diffuser, too?

[marie-louise]

Lower heat, bigger pan, lid askew. I find when the pot's up too high, eventually the very bottom burns, and if you're not careful, can impart a burned taste to the whole sauce. So, my solution is to cook it longer at a lower heat.

[Rachel Perlow]

Only if you're not using a heavy bottomed pot and your sauce is burning. Did it stick to the bottom and you had to stir frequently?

[MatthewB]

Only if you're not using a heavy bottomed pot and your sauce is burning. Did it stick to the bottom and you had to stir frequently?

Slight sticking but no burning. I stirred fairly frequently.

But simmers are hard to control on this stove. Just when you get it right, half the time the flames goes out.

[slkinsey]

Several things:

1. Keep the sauce relatively thin as you are simmering it, then reduce at the end. Most of the splattering comes from large bubbles of thick, viscous liquid breaking. Keeping the sauce thin reduces this problem quite a bit. You can reduce the sauce at the very end of your simmering period if you like. I think it makes a more versatile sauce to keep it relatively thin and then reduce the amount you are going to use to the consistency you want when you are actually reheating the sauce for use -- hopefully to be tossed with the not-quite-cooked pasta for the last minute or two in a saute pan. One of the great things about a very basic tomato sauce is that you can make a thousand "small sauces" out of it by adding herbs, meats, mushrooms, whatever. A thinner sauce also means less stirring is required.

2. Don't use pre-crushed (i.e., milled) tomatoes -- use whole tomatoes lightly crushed with your hands. Whole canned tomatoes are generally better quality anyway, IMO. Then, what you have for most of the simmering process is a relatively thin liquid with chunks of tomato floating in it. Since the bubbling part of the liquid is thinner, there is less chance of splattering. Once you have cooked the sauce most of the way, you can run the whole thing through a food mill to achieve the texture of your choice (most food mills come with 3 disks).

3. Make sure there is plenty of room between the surface of the sauce and the top of the pot. This way, the splatters have to travel a long way to get out of the pot.

4. Don't simmer the sauce all that long. The longer the sauce is simmered the greater the "blort" factor will be. Unless you're making ragu Bolognese or an Italian-American "Sunday Gravy" style sauce, there is rarely anything to be gained by simmering more than 30 minutes.

5. Cook the sauce under the simmer. No bubbling = no splattering. There is nothing special about 212 degrees that 190 degrees won't do just as well in this instance.

[MatthewB]

Ahhhhhh! Sam, you hit on some of things that I was wondering about.

I'll backtrack a bit.

I've been doing one-off tomato sauces--all too often as of late--from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table . Her tomato sauce recipes call for whole canned tomatoes or fresh tomatoes. So the sauces are thinner than what I dealt with last evening.

For whatever reason, I'd decided to make a big batch but I used the recipe from David Waltuck's Staff Meals from Chanterelle. I've always had very good luck with his recipes.

But as I assembled the sauce, I immediately wondered about the use of crushed tomatoes & how thick the sauce was.

Perhaps a better question for me to ask is: Should I go back & look at Hazan (or someone similar) for a standard tomato sauce recipe? (I.e., a thinner sauce that doesn't utilize pre-crushed tomatoes.)

[slkinsey]

Perhaps a better question for me to ask is:  Should I go back & look at Hazan (or someone similar) for a standard tomato sauce recipe?  (I.e., a thinner sauce that doesn't utilize pre-crushed tomatoes.)

Sure, you can do that. But it's not really rocket science, as I am sure you know. I use something like this.

4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 medium onions, small dice

1 medium carrot, grated

2-3 teaspoons dried thyme

2 large cans whole San Marzano tomatoes

Good EVOO

Salt

1. Sweat garlic and onion in plenty of evoo until soft, but not colored

2. While vegetables are softening, open cans of tomato, pour into bowl and crush lightly with hands (can omit this step)

3. Add carrot and cook until soft

4. Add tomatoes (including liquid) and thyme. If you have skipped step 2 above, break up the tomatoes slightly with a spoon while they're cooking.

5. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

6. Pass the sauce through a food mill fitted with the disk appropriate to the smoothness of texture you desire, or leave as-is for a more rustic chunky sauce. Season with salt to taste.

I have found this to be a relatively neutral sauce that is good all on its own, but also works well as a "mother sauce" on which to base future "small sauces." Some common variations in my house include using butter as the lipid instead of evoo (the difference in taste is huge), leaving out the garlic (I do this often when using butter), adding small dice of celery or some celery seeds crushed with a pestle, and adding a pinch of crushed red pepper. Any one of these variations seems to work well all by its self, or as the basis of a later variation (although I would not use the butter variations for sauces that would later include seafood).

[MatthewB]

Thanks for the great info, Sam.

[sammy]

Sam, if I recall correctly, your recipe is almost identical to Batali's basic tomato sauce. I use his recipe most of the time.

Don't underestimate the importance of the carrot. It adds a hint of sweetness without that cloying sweet taste you find in jarred sauces that contain corn syrup or sugar.

[Cusina]

I recommend a simmer plate. My stove generally runs a little too high even on the smallest btu unit at the lowest setting to do a long simmer. The plate helps a lot.

Our family marinara sounds pretty similar (advantages of marrying an Italian, good family sauce recipe) but with the addition of chopped sausage and green peppers.

Has anyone ever tried oven roasting the whole canned tomatoes before making them into sauce? I thought it might give a richer flavor, but have not tried it yet.

[Dave the Cook]

Has anyone ever tried oven roasting the whole canned tomatoes before making them into sauce? I thought it might give a richer flavor, but have not tried it yet.

Yes, and it makes a wonderful sauce. But it's not really the neutral base that Matthew's looking for, I think.

[Basilgirl]

I've been doing one-off tomato sauces--all too often as of late--from Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Italian Country Table .

What is "one-off"

I use Mario Batali's recipe all the time and when squishing the whole tomatoes they inevitably wind up on my shirt.

Also like Marcella Hazan's butter tomato sauce - so easy and so good. Tomatoes, almost a stick of butter, an onion, salt.

[MatthewB]

But it's not really the neutral base that Matthew's looking for, I think.

Yes, I'm looking for a neutral base that I can make 4 quarts or so of & then freeze.

Last night was the first time I tried doing this with a tomato sauce.

[MatthewB]

What is "one-off"

What I mean by "one-off" is doing just enough of a sauce for one recipe.

Sorry about the confusion.

[slkinsey]

Sam, if I recall correctly, your recipe is almost identical to Batali's basic tomato sauce. I use his recipe most of the time.

Yea? I watched his show a lot when it first came out and have generally been influenced by his cooking. I'd already been making more-or-less that same sauce for a number of years, but it's very possible that the thyme comes from him.

Actually... I just checked the TVFN site and the two recipes really are very similar -- even down to the quantities. That's funny, because when I posted I tried to put in whatever quantities sounded general and all-purpose (i.e., 4 cloves garlic) rather than a longer explanation of what I actually do. I might just as often put in only one clove of garlic, or sometimes six -- sometimes sliced thin, sometimes whole. I do the variations I gave at least as often as the "reference" recipe. Subconsciously, though, I must have been putting in "general purpose" quantities and techniques that I had seen on his show.

[slkinsey]

But it's not really the neutral base that Matthew's looking for, I think.

Yes, I'm looking for a neutral base that I can make 4 quarts or so of & then freeze.

What kind of storage space do you have? If I didn't live in a Manhattan apartment with no storage space and already packed to the gills I would make a gigantic recipe of basic sauce on a quarterly or semiannual basis and put it up in quart Mason jars for future use.

[MatthewB]

But it's not really the neutral base that Matthew's looking for, I think.

Yes, I'm looking for a neutral base that I can make 4 quarts or so of & then freeze.

What kind of storage space do you have? If I didn't live in a Manhattan apartment with no storage space and already packed to the gills I would make a gigantic recipe of basic sauce on a quarterly or semiannual basis and put it up in quart Mason jars for future use.

Soon enough, a big basement plus an additional freezer (and probably fridge, too) will be added down there.

So storage room isn't a problem. (Though someone else--read: SO--might have something to say on this! )

Edited November 11, 2003 by MatthewB (log)

[Basilgirl]

What is "one-off" 

What I mean by "one-off" is doing just enough of a sauce for one recipe.

Sorry about the confusion.

That must be yet another restaurant term I don't know, like "runner"

[MatthewB]

What is "one-off" 

What I mean by "one-off" is doing just enough of a sauce for one recipe.

Sorry about the confusion.

That must be yet another restaurant term I don't know, like "runner"

I don't know if it's a restaurant term or not.

But here's a definition.

Edited November 11, 2003 by MatthewB (log)